Why small international development charities need your support

There’s a crisis across the charity sector.

Funding is being slashed, demand is rising, costs are increasing and competition for limited funding has never been fiercer. Many charities are closing – and many charity leaders are burning out.

Small charities are feeling the pressure even more keenly. For those working internationally, the picture is especially bleak.

In February the UK government announced that the UK aid budget will be cut from 0.5% of GDP to just 0.3% – the lowest level in over 25 years. 

Back in the 1970s, the UN set a target for countries to spend 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA). The UK committed to this target in 2005 and finally met it in 2013. But in 2021, after the covid-19 pandemic, the target was cut to 0.5%, with devastating consequences.

Many charities, including Kids Club Kampala, lost funding or had to stop programmes as a result. Last year during the election campaign, Labour pledged to restore this spending to the 0.7% target. So to see it cut again is disheartening. And 0.3% is just a target, there’s no requirement to meet it.

This latest announcement came as a shock, even though, perhaps, it shouldn’t have.

At the start of the year, I was invited to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to hear David Lammy’s inaugural speech on the future of UK foreign policy. The speech focused mainly on defence, security, sanctions and migration, and quite a bit of scaremongering.

Disappointingly, there was little mention of international development. There was no recognition of the role UK NGOs and civil society play (especially small charities, which make up more than 90% of the sector). And there was almost no mention of the climate crisis. The global south was only referenced in the context of security. The need to support economic development in poorer countries was framed purely as a way to reduce migration.

It was incredibly frustrating.

This new cut comes just after the suspension of all USAID programmes, another devastating blow. I have friends who lost jobs overnight, and I know several charities that saw hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding vanish.

Kids Club Kampala doesn’t currently have any USAID-funded projects, but we’re still feeling the effects of these cuts. For example, several children in our programmes are HIV positive. Overnight, all health centres in Uganda lost their supply of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), which were funded by USAID. As a result, our children can no longer access this vital medication.

Without these drugs, their life expectancy will be dramatically reduced. It’s terrifying. It really is life and death.

There are over 10,000 registered small charities in the UK working internationally. That’s more than 10% of the entire charity sector. So why are we so often overlooked?

Small charities have the biggest impact at a grassroots level. They can pivot quickly and adapt to meet needs, and they are working on the frontline of global development. As we saw during the covid pandemic, when larger charities pull out, downsize or close, it is overwhelmingly the smaller charities that are relied upon.

These devastating cuts to UK aid are being disproportionately felt by smaller charities, who are stepping up to meet demand and fill gaps in services.

At the same time, as larger charities lose contracts and grants, they are likely to compete for the same limited funding pots that small organisations depend on. Many grant funders are also closing, pausing or shifting their priorities to focus solely on programmes based in the UK.

This has created a perfect storm. There is now not only less funding available to apply for, but also more competition for an already shrinking pot of money.

There have been some glimmers of hope. Some funders have rallied to support small organisations during these difficult times, including through this year’s Small Charity Week match funding campaign. But sadly, international development charities haven't been able to benefit from this opportunity. We hope next year that won't be the case.

Now more than ever, small international development charities need your support. Without it, the world’s poorest communities will continue to be left behind. This will lead to a more unfair, unjust, unsafe and unstable world.

Funders: please support small international development charities. They need you more than ever. This is not the time to pause funding or shift focus solely to UK causes. Be courageous. Step in to fill the huge gaps left by the cuts to UK and US aid.

And if you know someone working in a small international development charity, check in on them. Maybe buy them a coffee. Better still, make a donation (of any size) to their organisation. It will honestly make such a big difference.

Sending love and solidarity to all those working in small charities in international development at the moment – it is flipping hard and you are doing an incredible job. Keep going.

If your organisation has been affected by the issues raised in this blog, the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN) offers free support, advice and resources.

About Olivia Barker

Olivia is co-founder and Chief Executive of Kids Club Kampala, which helps vulnerable children across East Africa to survive and thrive. Olivia is an experienced charity leader with over 15 years’ experience of working in the charity and voluntary sector both in the UK and internationally. She’s a passionate champion of small charities, a proud trustee of the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN), and she sits on the UK Small Charities Advisory Panel (SCAP).